Baby Birdies

Still no referral, but the dove outside the nursery windows is a mama! Actually, shortly after I took the last photos, I noticed the little baby birds in the nest. They're growing by the day!

Dinner Conversation

Me: So, this whole waiting for a referral thing is starting to get kind of old.

Him: Ya think?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's where we are in our journey. Each new day feels like another opportunity for hope, but by about 4pm when the phone hasn't rung with news again, well it's just getting so monotonous. It's like a daily roller coaster ride, and I fear that hope is starting to feel like a phony friend--like Lucy was to Charlie Brown--"Sure, I'll hold the football in place for you!...Not!" But like Charlie Brown, I keep running toward that ball over and over again, because I know that one day, she won't pull the ball away, and I will make contact with that ball, and all those other times that were fake-outs won't matter because I held out hope and hope finally came through.

It's sort of like that.

I don't mean to sound like a pity party. I really am doing okay. I know in my head that one day very soon our phone will ring and there will be good news! And I definitely am hopeful about that!

It's more the journey of the heart. It's the daily wondering of "Will today be the day? Maybe today? Or maybe today?" Now matter how you try to guard it or try to tell it to be sensible, the heart hopes. It hoped today. And tomorrow it will hope again. And no matter how many days in a row that hope is dashed...well, the heart is a bit of a glutton for punishment.

Because the thing is? The heart knows that it's day is coming. And just as with the pain of childbirth, the joy of that day will overshadow the pain of waiting, if it doesn't erase it all together.

Mary Poppins Moment

I had a total Mary Poppins moment today when I looked out the window of the room that will be our nursery to see this lovely lady sitting atop her nest!

Maybe we'll become mothers around the same time. Come on referral!

A Happy Homecoming for our Friends!

I've mentioned before that we are part of a wonderful small group at our church called Orphans' Hope. Many of the families who are part of our group are adoptive families, and it is so exciting when we get to celebrate a new adoption within our group. On Friday, our dear friends came home from Kazakhstan with their two beautiful newly adopted children. Our group and some other friends gathered at their house to welcome them home.

It was so exciting to see their minivan approaching the house:

But this was the moment when I couldn't hold back the tears... Mama getting out of the car with her son:

It was like the best block party ever!

Lots of hugs!

Here is Mama with her sweet baby girl:
And Papa with his beautiful son:

Welcome home, friends! We're so blessed to be a part of your journey, and we look forward to getting to know your newest family members!

Seven Months!

Today marks seven months on the waiting list. The average wait time for families (adopting an infant from Ethiopia) to be matched with their baby is around nine months, but in the past week, five families have received referrals--that's a lot for one week!

Very quickly, we've seen our name get closer and closer to the top of the "unofficial" wait list! There are two families ahead of us waiting for referrals for an infant. Both families have requested "either gender" and so have we!

I've been e-mailing almost daily with the Busters, who are currently in the #1 spot on the unofficial wait list for both a boy and a girl! I can't wait to find out who their little one will be!

Needless to say, things have gotten much more exciting! We are still guarding our hearts, as things could slow down as quickly as they seem to have speeded up, but it is possible that we could be getting "the call" pretty soon!

Please pray for us and for the other waiting families--that God will protect our children as they wait for their forever families, and also that He would place the children in the families that He has in mind for them!

I'll try to update a little more frequently now that we are nearing the top of the list!

A Song for Waiting...

In Spanish, when a woman wants to say, "I'm expecting a baby", she says, "Estoy esperando un bebé". That same sentence could also be translated, "I am waiting for a baby". I love learning insights about life through another language. I love that the same verb--"esperar" means "waiting" as well as "expecting".

Indeed, the two are intertwined, as I'm learning through this adoption. As the wait feels longer and longer, my sense of expectation is growing.

Today, in my Bible Study Methods class, our teacher showed us a clip from The Dead Poets' Society. It was the inspirational scene when the students first hear their teacher whisper "Carpe Diem! Sieze the day!"

Moved by the scene, I came home and went to our iPod to listen to Barbara Streisand sing one of my favorite songs, called "Being Alive", which I always find inspirational, and I ended up listening to several of her songs. As I was listening to her sing "Something's Coming" from West Side Story, my thoughts drifted to our adoption, and tears began streaming down my cheeks. And before I knew it, I realized that I had found a song that perfectly captures my feelings right now as I wait in expectation for news of my child/ren. This song so perfectly captures my feelings, and the fact that it's a Broadway tune only makes it more fitting!

If you are in the waiting stage of adoption (or waiting on anything else for that matter), maybe this song will speak to you as well. Have a listen on the YouTube video below, and follow along with the lyrics I've included below it. (I'm a lyrics person!) May you have peace in the waiting...

Something's Coming

Could be!
Who knows?
There's something due any day;
I will know right away,
Soon as it shows.
It may come cannonballing down through the sky,
Gleam in its eye,
Bright as a rose!

Who knows?
It's only just out of reach,
Down the block, on a beach,
Under a tree.
I got a feeling there's a miracle due,
Gonna come true,
Coming to me!

Could it be? Yes, it could.
Something's coming, something good,
If I can wait!
Something's coming, I don't know what it is,
But it is
Gonna be great!

With a click, with a shock,
Phone'll jingle, door'll knock,
Open the latch!
Something's coming, don't know when, but it's soon;
Catch the moon,
One-handed catch!

Around the corner,
Or whistling down the river,
Come on, deliver
To me!
Will it be? Yes, it will.
Maybe just by holding still,
It'll be there!

Come on, something, come on in, don't be shy,
Meet a guy,
Pull up a chair!
The air is humming,
And something great is coming!
Who knows?
It's only just out of reach,
Down the block, on a beach,
Maybe tonight . . .

Mama Bear

The other day, as I was flipping through an old issue of Reader's Digest, I came across this quote by Charles M. Schultz, author of the Peanuts comic strip:

"A good education is the next best thing to a pushy mother."

Ain't that the truth? Yes, I am thrilled to have received a wonderful education, but it definitely takes a back seat to having been blessed with my mom for a mother. While "pushy" isn't the word I would choose to describe her style, there was never any doubt growing up that she was on my side. My Dad used to proudly chuckle that if anybody dare mess with her children, they would have Mama Bear to contend with--and hell hath no fury like an angry Mama Bear.

Mom was all about wanting us kids to learn how fight our battles for ourselves. However, when the situation was overwhelming and we needed her to step in, Mama Bear was there with her claws out and her fangs ready to devour the bad guys. It really was so wonderful to live under the umbrella of my mother's protection. That fierce loyalty means the world to a child.

For our family motto, Brian and I chose three words:

Love. Loyalty. Lifetime.

It comes from the Bible's book of Proverbs:

"Don't lose your grip on Love and Loyalty.

Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart."

In my mother, love and loyalty were never in short supply. I'm blessed that those qualities are part of her legacy to me, and I can't wait to pass them on to my own children.

This Mama Bear is ready and waiting for her cubs!